Show sl 4 fal A e W STUMP TO HOUSE JOUR JOURNEY NEY virgin timber from forests Is speeded up on its way to help aid the lumber shortage modern methods have cut the transit time materially HUNTING A HOUSE foresters speed lumber to fill national V shortage 12 features BOISE IDAHO towering forests are playing an important role in the all out effort to alleviate the nations lumber shortage speed is the keynote in the lumber industry modern production methods expediting the process of converting virgin timber into sorely needed houses actually a tree in the forest can be cut sawed cured and ready for a house in a matter of weeks idaho foresters and lumber company officials insist although the elapsed time sometimes seems like a century to toa hordes ot of hungry house hunters especially those relegated to living with in laws today the product ot of standing trees can be unloaded at a lumber yard hundreds of miles from the forest in a matter of two or three weeks foresters report drying expedited back in the old days when most of the work of lumbering was done by hand many months were required to produce finished lumber from growing groweg trees one of the longest delays was as in drying or curing of the rough boards before they were sent to the mill in drying yards after the wind and sun and rain had done an unpredictable dic table job of curing the boards were taken from the piles one by one and inspected all the work done by hand today the most commonly accepted method of drying lumber is kiln drying where cross ventilation takes out the excess moisture other methods sometimes used are chemical drying and high frequency electrical drying in kilns kalns drying time will range from 72 hours for idaho pine 1 4 by as to hours for 10 by as drives eliminated eliminate ed trucks have supplanted to a large extent the big timber drives and water transportation of the past in forests and other methods and machines have speeded up the stump to house journey of lumber today the time lapse has been shortened from months to days which should encourage those who still are waiting tor for lumber for that new house the cutting of trees is a year around operation even when the snows come during curing the war idaho timber workers cut trees in snow from 9 to 11 feet deep ordinarily however they hold their winter operations erat ions to areas where snowfall is lighter |